Uncle Chris goes to Florida to visit Capt. Al & Heidi

Yes...I did have a lovely respite from the DC area just last week staying with my old buddies, Alan and Heidi in Ft. Myers, Florida. Sitting on the Gulf, it was in the high 80"s when I got there and felt very nice indeed.
And yes, we did get out fishing twice, into the flats and "backcountry" as Al says. Man, his boat is a real peice of work. VERY fast and that was in choppy water (it was windy and a little chilly the days we went out) and still handled well....sitting up top of the waves. Then, back in the mangroves, it was warm and quiet. Except for the osprey that exploded right next to the boat while I was reeling in my fish and almost getting it! Then we had three or four bottlenose dolphin harassing us until we had to move somewhere else. The next time we were out, we had a Manatee sitting down in the shallows below us just munching away quietly. Until we started the electric trolling motor. He/she didn't much care for that.
The wildlife in general was thick. White Ibis, Anhinga, Black Skimmers, and great shelling n Sanibel and Captiva.
But the highlight was a birthday party for Al where he and Heidi cooked several Mexican dishes that were out of this world including homemade tamales. All washed down with copious quantities of dark rum and fresh squeezed grapefruit juice. Check out Heidi's pond in the backyard and Al's nice redfish (barbequed with lots of friends).
Today we finish packing and drive to Baltimore airport early for our lights to Puerto Escondido. We'll be checking email regularly but sorry, no cell phone. Love all you guys.

Chris